edibble
A grammar for experimental design that learned to compose designs and track its own provenance.
A side-by-side editorial comparison of rolap and segregatr — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
A star-schema modelling package grew a query language, a deployment path, and then a map layer.
rolap builds dimensional models — star databases and constellations — from flat tables inside R. Over 2023 it acquired a multidimensional query interface, the ability to deploy models into relational databases, incremental refresh, and geographic layers exportable as GeoPackage. Since early 2024 it has been quiet, with the only 2025 release removing a test that clashed with another package.
A segregation-analysis tool that keeps widening which pedigrees it can actually handle.
segregatr computes full-likelihood Bayes factors for variant segregation in families, built on pedtools and part of the wider pedsuite ecosystem. Its releases are infrequent but each one lifts a structural restriction: loops, recessive and X-linked models, liability classes, and most recently a proband-free variant of the score. The companion shinyseg app gives the same machinery a clinical front end.
rolap builds dimensional models — star databases and constellations — from flat tables inside R. Over 2023 it acquired a multidimensional query interface, the ability to deploy models into relational databases, incremental refresh, and geographic layers exportable as GeoPackage. Since early 2024 it has been quiet, with the only 2025 release removing a test that clashed with another package.
The 2023 releases trace a deliberate progression from modelling to operating: first a common data model and flat table class, then role-playing dimensions, then incremental refresh, then querying and deployment, then geography, then slowly changing dimensions. That is essentially the feature checklist of a data warehouse, assembled in about six months and documented with a vignette at each step. The pace since has dropped to almost nothing, which reads as a project that reached its intended scope rather than one that stalled.
Given eighteen months in which the only release was a test removal, the next release is more likely to be maintenance than another warehouse feature — though the entries give no clear signal either way.
segregatr computes full-likelihood Bayes factors for variant segregation in families, built on pedtools and part of the wider pedsuite ecosystem. Its releases are infrequent but each one lifts a structural restriction: loops, recessive and X-linked models, liability classes, and most recently a proband-free variant of the score. The companion shinyseg app gives the same machinery a clinical front end.
The through-line is coverage of awkward real-world pedigrees rather than new statistics. Loops were handled for the core score in 0.3.0 and then extended to liability classes in 0.4.0, so the same structural capability is being pushed through the codebase feature by feature. The 2025 release moves in a different direction, relaxing the requirement for a designated proband. Development is slow and steady, roughly annual, and tracks its pedtools dependency closely.
Expect the next release to continue relaxing modelling constraints — the pattern of retrofitting each new capability across loops, liability classes and inheritance models is unfinished — rather than expanding beyond segregation scoring.
Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either rolap or segregatr.
A grammar for experimental design that learned to compose designs and track its own provenance.
A Swiss clinical-trial data reader that surfaces once every couple of years to clear check notes.
Brazil's flight-data package keeps working around what ANAC publishes and when.
A water-research lab's ODBC helper, still fighting Windows database drivers a decade in.
PACTA's loan-book matcher opened up to sector taxonomies other than its own.
PACTA's climate-alignment charting layer split prep from plotting, then settled into stable.
See all rolap alternatives → · See all segregatr alternatives →
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. rolap and segregatr are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. rolap and segregatr are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
Top rolap alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "rolap alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rolap for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
Top segregatr alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "segregatr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/segregatr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.